5 (or less) Years of S...

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BTU #445 - Founding Alpha Architect (Wes Gray)

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BTU #445 - Founding Alpha Architect (Wes Gray)

There are so many reasons to listen to today’s episode. First, finance. Wes was introduced to me by a Wall Street Journal article that my brother-in-law Matt Dankner sent me and said basically, ‘Check this guy out, you need to get a hold of this guy’. I’m still blown away that Wes has taken the time to speak with me. The Wall Street Journal article talked about how successful Wes has been in starting and growing his own asset management firm, which is extremely difficult to do. We talk about so much in the episode. We talk about how when Wes was in the midst of his Ph. D. he joined the Marines. We talk about how that experience has helped him get this far. We talk about why vets are well-suited for fundraising. We talk about how to sell with a passion and how to find a mission you’re excited about. And most importantly we talk about the very simple secret to create success which is to grind every day. I think you’ll find Wes’ experience motivating and inspiring.

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BTU #442 - Navy to PGA Golfer (Billy Hurley III)

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BTU #442 - Navy to PGA Golfer (Billy Hurley III)

Why Listen:

Billy is a professional golfer, the first Naval Academy graduate to earn a PGA TOUR card, which he has done for the last seven years. The more I learn about Billy’s journey, the more I’m blown away by what he achieved. In a field that is crowded and incredibly competitive, Billy has succeeded despite having five years where - instead of focusing 100% on golf like his peer set - he was serving in the military.In this interview we talk about cultivating a mindset of excellence - even though serving as a Surface Warfare Officer didn’t directly relate to his aspirations as a golfer - he focused on it 100% and did the best job he could. We talk about making sacrifices and how to balance that with being present with one’s family. We talk about what life is like on the PGA Tour and more.

About Billy:

Billy Hurley III was a member of the victorious American team in the 2005 Walker Cup and served as captain of the 2004 Palmer Cup Team. He won seven collegiate golf titles at the Naval Academy, was named 2004 Patriot League Player of the Year and was ranked the #6 best amateur in the world. Billy was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy, serving as a Surface Warfare Officer for five years. After his Naval service, Billy turned his focus to golf. He earned his place on the Web.com Tour in 2011, finishing the season in 25th place and becoming the first Naval Academy graduate to earn a PGA TOUR Card. He has continued to be a strong competitor on the TOUR, winning the 2016 Quicken Loans National – a Tiger Woods-hosted tribute to military personnel. With the win, Billy qualified for his first PGA and Masters Championships.

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BTU #440 - Coach K

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BTU #440 - Coach K

Why Listen

Seriously? This is Coach K. I know nothing about sports, and even I know about Coach K. Hailing back to my days trying to escape from the Naval Academy, my friend Scott and I would go down to Duke to hang out with a friend of mine from High School. Hearing her and her friends talk about Coach K with reverence, started my esteem for this man. Despite his insanely busy schedule, Coach K took time to speak with me and the Beyond the Uniform audience about how his military experience shaped his coaching philosophy, how he crosses the generational gap to motivate his players, how to overcome failure, how to achieve work life balance and more.

About Coach K

A graduate of West Point, Mike Krzyzewski is a living legend. In 39 seasons at Duke, Coach K is a Naismith Hall of Fame coach, a five-time national champion and 12-time Final Four participant; a 6 time Gold Medalist as head coach of US Men's National Team, and is the winningest Basketball Coach in Division 1 Men's Basketball history.

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BTU #412 - Hemp & Psychedelics (Devin Alvarez @ StraightHemp)

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BTU #412 - Hemp & Psychedelics (Devin Alvarez @ StraightHemp)

Why Listen:

I had intended to spend the bulk of my conversation with Devin talking about growth and marketing because he has some great ideas. But we ended up going down a different path. Devin runs a company called StraightHemp, where they sell different hemp-related products. In this interview, we talked about CBD and other things. And he also is an advocate for psychedelics. Devin is a rare breed of person. He's building a company and making money, but that's not what's driving him. Devin is very community-driven. He's very much about making the world a better place. I know that sounds trite. But it just really I found our interview touching in that sense. As an entrepreneur, it was helpful to see an example of someone who is so purpose-driven.

As always at beyondtheuniform.org we'll have show notes with links to everything we discuss over 411 other episodes, just like this one, maybe not using the word psychedelic.

About Devin:

Devin Alvarez is the Founder and CEO of StraightHemp. Using a proprietary extraction method to power their leading Straight Hemp family of products, they are positioned to become a top seller in the natural products channel. He started at the Air Force Academy before switching over to Florida State University. He holds a Master's of Science from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Environmental Science.

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BTU #411 - Air Force to Health Tech Startup President (Kit Kieling @ Orderly Health)

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BTU #411 - Air Force to Health Tech Startup President (Kit Kieling @ Orderly Health)

Why Listen:

Today's conversation is dense in terms of the amount of wisdom per square second. I've known Ken for a while now, and it was great hearing more about his story. I respect his vulnerability and authenticity in sharing how he navigated multiple times in his career in life. Things didn't work out the way that he thought they would. One example is his work in the ICU in Afghanistan and Iraq that changed his view about medicine and realizing that that path wasn't what he wanted to do. And he goes from there to consulting and then becomes a senior at a rapidly growing startup. It just shows that you can adapt and overcome. He talks about hiring, managing a remote workforce, and so many great things.

As always, at beyondtheuniform.org you'll find show notes with links to everything we discussed, as well as 410 other episodes just like this.

About Kit:

Kit Kieling is the President, COO, and Co-Founder of Orderly Health. Orderly Health is on a mission to make sure patients have access to the most up-to-date information about healthcare providers. Through proprietary algorithms of machine learning, Orderly Health improves the accuracy of provider directories and the overall interoperability of data for payers and providers. Kitt started at the Air Force Academy and earned his MD from the Oregon Health and Science University. He served as the Pediatric ICU Director in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has also worked as a Consultant at McKinsey & Company in addition to multiple medical positions before his time at Orderly Health.

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BTU #410 - Army to CEO (Erik Malmstrom)

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BTU #410 - Army to CEO (Erik Malmstrom)

Why Listen:

Erik is a man I tremendously respect. His background is unbelievably impressive. A few things that we talked about that stood out to me is, first of all, where we started the conversation, which is an alternate view on the veteran transition that I've never heard before; it puts veterans in a different light. And I think it's very thought-provoking. Second of all is Erik's work around Afghanistan, which he has done for the last ten years of helping people get out of Afghanistan and making sure that they're safe. Third of all, Erik has an amazing story of work in the food and agriculture space, and he talks about why that's so important to him. Fourth, it was remarkable to hear about the crazy journey that the quarantine put on his company, SafeTraces, and how they were able to pivot into something even bigger when most companies honestly would have gone out of business. Instead, they're thriving due to their adaptability. And he talks about how the military training was such an asset in that way.

About Erik:

Erik Malmstrom is the CEO of SafeTraces, a biotechnology company that is harnessing the power of DNA. SafeTraces has developed groundbreaking solutions for food and drug traceability, sanitation verification, and safe airflow verification that address the fundamental human need for safety. Erik started out at the University of Pennsylvania, after which he served for nearly seven years in the Army, where he graduated from Army Ranger School and Airborne School and earned the Bronze Star Medal for his service as a rifle platoon leader during deployments to eastern Afghanistan. After his military service, he earned degrees at Harvard Business School and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. His career has included time at Cargill, working on food, agriculture, nutrition, and risk management, time as a White House Fellow, and time as General Manager of the Farmer's Business Network, a company that has now raised over $250 million in capital.

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BTU #409 - Investing in Cybersecurity (Ken Gonzalez)

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BTU #409 - Investing in Cybersecurity (Ken Gonzalez)

Why Listen:

Ken is an absolute Rockstar. His career includes working at some of the most iconic brands in Silicon Valley; Siebel Systems, McAfee, AVAST Software, FireEye, and now founding and running his own investment firm, NightDragon. Here are six different things to keep an ear out for in this episode. First of all, why veterans should consider a career in cybersecurity and what the characteristics of this industry are. Second, what life is like as a mid to late-stage investor. Third, the one thing everyone overlooks when it comes to networking. Fourth, using the lens of fun learning and money to evaluate career shifts. Fifth, why you should always take a job interview even if you're happy at your current job. And sixth, an overview of the corporate development role, something we've never talked about on the show.

About Ken:

Ken Gonzalez is the Managing Director of NightDragon, an investment and advisory firm focused on investing in growth and late-stage companies within the cybersecurity, safety, security, and privacy industry. Prior to NightDragon, Ken was the Managing Director of ForgePoint Capital. Previously, he led the strategy and corporate business development functions at FireEye, AVAST Software, McAfee, and Siebel Systems (now part of Oracle) and was responsible for acquisition target selection, deal negotiation, and post-merger integration. He also served in the United States Army as an infantry officer with the 82nd Airborne Division and the 75th Ranger Regiment.

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BTU #408 - 0 to 2,100 Employees (Alex O'Brien @ Cardinal Group)

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BTU #408 - 0 to 2,100 Employees (Alex O'Brien @ Cardinal Group)

Why Listen:

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have this conversation with Alex. I reached out to him via LinkedIn because I saw he was in Denver, and he was a Marine who has done incredible things as an entrepreneur and basically treated this interview as part two of a conversation with him. Here's a couple of things that stood out to me that I hope you benefit from this interview. At one point, Alex says, I don't know anything, pay me and teach me. I think that's such a great thought as he was taking different jobs as he was starting his company; such a great way to approach anything, which is find something that can make money and teach you a skill set. I really appreciate his lessons on patience. You'll hear that in his 15-year journey of building up a real estate company that spans so many different functional areas now, but it wasn't an overnight success. He also talks about pounding the rock. It's not a single pound that cracks the rock. But it's the repeated relentless intention of showing up every day. I think there's a lot there that I can learn as well going along with that his story really has these threads of constant improvement. And I'm just appreciating his thoughts on inclusivity and how creating an incredible place to work really depends on understanding each unique person, their history, and what they're wanting out of life. And then you can create and craft an environment that's right for them. It was really powerful to think of that from a cultural standpoint.

As always at beyondtheuniform.org there are show notes with links to what we discuss timestamps for the key points of this interview and 407 other interviews similar to this one, all provided for free.

About Alex:

Alex is the Chief Executive Officer at Cardinal Group Companies, a fully integrated real estate investment, construction development, marketing, and management firm specializing in opportunistic and value-added investments throughout the United States. Alex started out at Miami University after he served in the Marine Corps for four years as a Logistics Officer. He started the Cardinal Group out of the Marine Corps, and over the last 15 years, has bootstrapped his company. For those of you that are unfamiliar with that term, bootstrap means he did not bring on outside investment. He bootstrapped his covenant over 2100 employees, somehow finding time to earn an MBA at Chicago's Booth School of Business along the way.

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BTU #400 - Up Your Influence (Josh Elledge)

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BTU #400 - Up Your Influence (Josh Elledge)

Why Listen:

I think it's amazing this conversation I had with Josh because most of it is about adding value and - what he calls - leveraging generosity for marketing and sales. And what's crazy for me is that the way that I met Josh a couple of months ago was through a connection, and I even forget how I met him. I run a company Captivate.ai that works all in marketing, and Josh is such an expert in sales systems and marketing. I think that this is a little bit different from a typical episode. We don't talk a lot about career transition. But we talk about getting attention, using marketing and sales in a way that's authentic and genuine and doesn't feel icky, is probably the best word I can use. One thing you'll take away from this episode is just a lot of great ideas about an authentic way to get attention, to market, to do sales, to get your message across, whether that's personal or professional. Second of all, I think that Josh is an incredible entrepreneur, and I admire him. I've been doing podcasting for four years, and I often feel like an old hat at this. Josh has been doing it for 14 years, a full decade longer than I have. His thoughts on entrepreneurship, on media, PR, all of these different things; there's just a goldmine here.

About Josh:

Josh is the founder and CEO of Up My Influence, which provides step-by-step tools, coaching, and public relation hacks for entrepreneurs to dramatically increase their sales by attracting their perfect audience, all at a fraction of the cost of traditional PR services. Since serving in the Navy as a broadcast journalist, he has founded and led multiple companies including SavingsAngel, and the Josh Elledge Consulting Company. Josh has been podcasting for 14 years - most people don't even know that podcasting has been around for that long - and he has had over 2000 media appearances.

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BTU #396 - Approaching Networking From a Generous Standpoint (Shawn Olds)

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BTU #396 - Approaching Networking From a Generous Standpoint (Shawn Olds)

Why Listen:

I just wrapped up my conversation with Shawn, and it was so enjoyable. There were a couple of things that stood out to me. One was his great quote about always being ready for opportunities and embracing the right thing. His story is so incredible, from this perspective, starting with his unexpected medical discharge from the military, to a winding road through consulting and startups, and ultimately back to startups and starting his own company. It just really shows you the power of resilience, but also the power of being open to unexpected deviations in your career, which will inevitably happen.

Second of all, we talk a lot about networking. He gives a couple of really poignant examples where 10 to 20 years after meeting someone, he and people in his network, reconnect in a way that alters their career. It really gets away from this transactional thought of networking and moves toward something that veterans excel at, which is genuinely meeting people, enjoying them, and being generous.

To that point, immediately after recording, Shawn asked me, “How can I help you with your company Captivate.ai?” It was just so powerful to see him immediately and genuinely putting to use his principle - approaching networking from a generous and giving standpoint.

We talk about grad school, he gives an example of a friend who sold his company for $240 million and then went to business school. He underscores this thought by showing that there is no “one right size fits all” approach to education and your career journey. It's about learning and serendipity.

Finally, we talk about his own startup journey and the milestones achieved along the way as he created and continues to build his company. I did something for the first time in this interview, which is a kind of live mentorship where I asked him a specific question about my company Captivate.ai. I think his answer will benefit anyone interested in entrepreneurship.

About Shawn:

Shawn Olds is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at boodleAI, which specializes in Enriched Analytics for sales, marketing and fundraising teams. boodleAI is on a mission to democratize data, making it faster and easier for ALL organizations to locate their best leads and prospects in any contact list. By using advanced data enrichment and predictive insight analytics, boodleAI clients have already experienced significant lifts in conversion, engagement, and retention rates. boodleAI has over 30 employees, has raised $3M in funding, and is located in Tysons, VA. Shawn holds a B.S. from West Point, an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, and a JD from Northwestern's Pritzker School of Law.

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BTU #392 - 20 years of transformational, company turnaround and growth work (Jason Santamaria)

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BTU #392 - 20 years of transformational, company turnaround and growth work (Jason Santamaria)

Why Listen:

I loved my interview with Jason Santamaria. Special thanks to Vincent Martino for making this connection. They became good friends in business school and co-authored a book. Two things you should pay attention to for this interview:

1 - alignment. There's very few people I can think of in the last 390 interviews that are as aligned as Jason is with his career. The way that he speaks, the way that he thinks, the way that he processes information... he found the right career for him. And it's so refreshing to see that.

2 - Maybe even more important is that as we unwrap his story, I think you'll realize that that was not clear to him when he was in the Marine Corps, or when he left the Marine Corps. It wasn't like he had his sights set on a career in transformational company work. And I think that that should hopefully be refreshing for all of you listening to this to see how his story unfolds to see that he found a career path that really resonates with him. But it wasn't a master plan, it was taking the next best step every step of the way, and thinking about what he wanted.

About Jason:

Jason Santamaria is a Managing Director in the Portfolio Operations group of a leading alternative investment firm. Focused on Lean Transformation, Jason is involved in identifying and delivering growth & productivity initiatives in the companies in which his firm invests. Previously, Jason held a number of senior leadership roles in large public and private companies, including Serta Simmons Bedding, Newell Brands, Stanley Black & Decker, Avery Dennison, Morgan Stanley and McKinsey & Company. Early in his career, Jason served as an artillery officer in the United States Marine Corps and as a Fulbright Scholar in South America. He holds an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from the University of Texas at Austin.

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BTU #384 - SWAT Team, Mental Health, and More (Jeff McDonald)

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BTU #384 - SWAT Team, Mental Health, and More (Jeff McDonald)

Why Listen:

I was riding a high after my conversation with Jeff for days - I appreciate his strength, vulnerability, and authenticity in this conversation. You can view this interview in two parts - the first part we discuss his transition from the Marine Corps into law enforcement, including work in prisons, on patrol, and with the SWAT teams. In the second half, we both talk about our experience with therapy and mental health. Jeff talks candidly about PTSD and depression, and we both open up about the positive impact therapy has had on our lives.

If this latter topic resonates with you, there are so many great resources out there to support you. The one that comes immediately to mind i learned about in episdoe #368 with Joe Quinn, where he talked about Headstrong - at GetHeadStrong.org - you take a 60 second survey and as a veteran get paired with a best-in-class clinician for unlimited therapy.

But - as we talk about in this interview - I don't want to spin this as a - if you're contemplating suicide, get help. I'm a big believer that therapy is a preventative maintenance - that it is similar to olympic athletes working with an elite coach - it's a great way to deepen as a human being, understand yourself more, and ensure you're operating at your peak capacity.

About Jeff

Jeff McDonald is a Safe School Specialist at the University of Montana. His Career started in the Marine Corps, where he served for four years with two combat deployments and has included work in Law Enforcement and as a SWAT officer.

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BTU #379 - Rapid Iteration vs. Building For Scale (Vincent Martino - Co-Founder @ VisitPay)

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BTU #379 - Rapid Iteration vs. Building For Scale (Vincent Martino - Co-Founder @ VisitPay)

Why Listen

Vincent's story is pretty much the opposite of the standard entrepreneurial success story you hear. Yes - he has experienced incredible success - his company, VisitPay, now has over 100 employees, 3 of his 7 C-Suite executives are Service Academy graduates, and he has received over $26M in funding from some of the best investors in the world, like Norwest. However, where his story differs is that this didn't happen overnight. Vincent has been at this for nearly 12 years. His success didn't come all at once, it came through a sustained effort over a decade. What I love most about Vincent's story is how he elegantly merged two vital aspects of entrepreneurship that - to me - often seem to be complete opposite skill sets - that of rapidly iterating (building, learning, and reacting as quickly as possible to feedback from customers), and at an opposite extreme, building for scale (slowing down to build things properly so that it can sustain the load of a massive influx of customers). I learned so much from my conversation with Vincent and hope you will too.

About Vincent

Vincent Martino is the Co-Founder of VisitPay, a company he started nearly 12 years ago that now has over 100 employees and has raised $26M in funding from top notch investors like Norwest. 3 of his 7 C-Suite executives are Service Academy Grads. His journey started at the Naval Academy, included five years in the Marine Corps, followed by an MBA at the Wharton School, and includes work at Dynamicsoft, Capital One, COO at Balihoo and co-authoring the book, The Marine Corps Way.

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BTU #372 - CareerNerds with Tom Kent

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BTU #372 - CareerNerds with Tom Kent

Why Listen:
In addition to having an extremely rich career in marketing at multiple brands that you will have heard of, my guest today, Tom Kent is distinguished for another reason. And that is that after nearly a decade of being Chief Marketing Officer and VP of Marketing etc. he started his own company called CareerNerds. And it was really born out of his own experience of having difficulty in job searches, explaining his backgrounds, interviewing, and landing the job of his dreams. And so what he's done with CareerNerds over the last several years, is help hundreds of other people and Veterans craft their online persona polish up their LinkedIn profile figure out how to explain their story in an interview and communicate it in a resume. And there is so much rich tactical advice in what Tom presents today. In fact immediately after our interview I reached out to him to work with him in polishing up my LinkedIn presence for my own company. And, you know, I've been doing sales for over 10 years as an entrepreneur i've landed deals with 35 different fortune 500 companies - I'm pretty good at it. And some of the stuff that Tom mentions here about reaching out to people to network, I'd never heard before. It's really shifted my own thinking in how to approach some of this stuff.

About Tom
Tom Kent is the Founder & CEO of CareerNerds, which has held over 200 executives advance their careers with personal branding and networking. A 1995 graduate of West Point, Tom served as a Military Intelligence Officer for five years. Since his military service, Tom has had a prolific career in marketing, with work at Intel, IBM, Expedia, Vayama, Avast and ZenMate, holding roles including Chief Marketing Officer, VP of Marketing, Director of Marketing and more.

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BTU #369 - How to Buy and Grow a Company (Charles Mullenger)

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BTU #369 - How to Buy and Grow a Company (Charles Mullenger)

Why Listen:

I reached out to Charles about six months ago, and am so happy that I was finally able to get him on the show. In this interview, we talk a lot about building up specific skills in one’s career. In Charle’s case, he learned skills at business school and then in private equity which both were in line with his eventual career goal: entrepreneurship. And we talk about a form of entrepreneurship you’ve probably never heard about - search funds. So many Veterans want to run a company, but don’t know where to start. A search fund is a way to buy an existing business and then build and grow it. Actually, for most of my time at Stanford Business School, I thought I would do a Search Fund, and I still believe it’s an incredible career path for many Veterans. As I mentioned, I reached out to Charles 6 months ago based on his background… I don’t really think I realized how incredibly smart and capable he is until we had this conversation… as an entrepreneur myself, I’m blown away by the moves this guy has, and on his ability to explain them to our audience. If you do like this episode, check out

BTU #117: Jim Vesterman: Marine Corps to Search Funds and Buying a Company to Run (https://beyondtheuniform.org/blog/btu-84-jim-vesterman-marine-corps-to-search-funds-and-buying-a-company-to-run?rq=search%20funds) which I’ll list in the show notes for this episode at BeyondTheUniform.org.

And, of course, this interview was only made possible due to the financial support of the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, and I want to share a little bit more about them. Whether you're transitioning to a civilian career or continuing military service, an MBA from Carlson, at the University of Minnesota prepares you for a high impact career in business. Carlson is committed to the veteran community and provides the benefits, experiential learning, and network to accelerate your career. In addition to a resident tuition waiver, all admitted full time MBA military candidates receive generous scholarships and stipends to cover expenses that may not be eligible for the GI Bill. To learn more, you can visit the show notes at BeyondTheUniform.org for this episode, or you can email MBA@UMN.edu.

About Charles:

Charles Mullenger is the CEO of President of Ethos Preparedness, which has been building the most trusted brands in preparedness, starting with Med Sled®, since 2004. A 2010 graduate of West Point, Charles served as a Field Artillery officer in the Army for 5 years, before obtaining his MBA at Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He has served on the board of directors for Purity Zinc Metals, and founded Steel Tree Capital, which led to his ownership of Ethos Preparedness.

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BTU #366 - Race & Gender in the Military (Natasha Sistrunk Robinson)

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BTU #366 - Race & Gender in the Military (Natasha Sistrunk Robinson)

Why Listen:

Normally I start with a nice quote, reasons to listen to the episode. I’m not doing that today. Today is a conversation I should have had 300 episodes ago - its a conversation I wish more people were having more candidly. Today I chat with Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, where we spend the bulk of our time discussing race and gender and the role it plays in the military. It is an open, honest, and very imperfect conversation, and something I sincerely hope you take the time to listen to. With that let’s dive in to my conversation

About Natasha:

Natasha is an international speaker, leadership consultant, mentoring coach, and the visionary founder of the nonprofit Leadership LINKS, Inc. A graduate of the US Naval Academy and a former Marine Corps officer, she is the author of Mentor for Life and Hope for Us.

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BTU #365 - Impossible Foods (Dan Greene & Ryan Fisher)

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BTU #365 - Impossible Foods (Dan Greene & Ryan Fisher)

Why Listen:
When Carlson’s School of Management came to us with an offer for financial sponsorship, Steve and I were like kids in a candy store. We had the resources to do any interview we’d like… that’s like a dream come true. As I was thinking through who I wanted to reach out to, I started thinking about purpose - purpose is something that comes up time and time again in my interviews. So, I wanted to find a company that is purpose driven. A company that is doing something pretty different. And that is how I view Impossible Foods. They are re-envisioning how we eat and driven by a deep desire to help us take better care of our planet. Not only that, but they have become a massive sensation - according to LinkedIn there are now over 500 employees at Impossible, and according to Crunchbase they have raised over $1.2B… that’s right - $1.2B… the amount of money a villain in a James Bond movie would demand to avoid destroying the world.

Here’s what I love about today’s interview. First of all, I’m joined by TWO incredible Veterans with TWO incredible career paths. We talk about innovation and sales, two very different career paths, and their perspectives on what it’s like to work at Impossible. While we do talk a lot about Impossible, we cover a lot of ground about general career advice.

If you enjoy this episode, check out the show notes for this episode, where I link to a few interviews I’ve done in the Cyrpto space - that seems to share the same purpose-driven culture that I felt in this interview.

And, of course, this interview was only made possible due to the financial support of the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, and I want to share a little bit more about them, whether you're transitioning to a civilian career or continuing military service, an MBA from Carlson, at the University at the University of Minnesota prepares you for a high impact career in business. Carlson is committed to the veteran community and provides the benefits experiential learning and network to accelerate your career. In addition to a resident tuition waiver all admitted full time MBA military candidates receive generous scholarships and stipends to cover expenses that may not be eligible for the GI Bill. To learn more, you can visit the show notes at beyondtheuniform.org for this episode, or you can email MBA@UMN.edu.

About Ryan & Dan:
Dan Greene is a SVP of US Sales and Growth. He started out at the Naval Academy and served over 10 years as a Navy fighter pilot and director of operations for multiple aviation units. Dan served as Chief Revenue Officer for a conversational artificial intelligence startup, and served as an executive consultant with other early-stage software companies. Prior to that, Dan spent 11 years overseeing large teams and revenue-generating business units at Google and Twitter.

Ryan Fisher is the Director of New Product Introduction. He served in the US Army for over four years as an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Officer. He has worked in global supply at both Apple and Uber. He holds an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

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BTU #364 - Veteran Tax Credits (Craig Washburn)

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BTU #364 - Veteran Tax Credits (Craig Washburn)

Why Listen
Craig is a serial entrepreneur who’s current company - Veteran Tax Credits - is relevant to all of our listeners. First of all, if you are a Veteran seeking a job, Craig talks about how the government provides tax credits for any employer who hires you. This is a financial benefit to employers that could play a deciding role in your next job offer, so it is worthy of your attention. Second, if you’re an employer, Craig talks about a tax incentive surprisingly few businesses know about. He’ll walk you through what you need to do to take full advantage of this benefit. In addition, we talk about entrepreneurship, partnerships and more. Lastly, one thing I really appreciated in this interview is the sense that when Veterans raise awareness of this sort of tax incentive, not only are they helping themselves, but they’re helping other members of the military community who may benefit from these tax incentives in the future. Many thanks to Craig for the work he is doing to help our military community, and for his sponsorship of this episode to help Beyond the Uniform further our work.

About Craig:
Craig Washburn is the Founder & CEO of VTC Veteran Tax Credits. VTC helps Veterans get pre-certified and find gainful employment through our partnerships. We help companies’ find outstanding Veteran talent and collect valuable tax credits for employing them. Craig started out in the Navy as an Administrative Supervisor, where he served for four years. His civilian career includes work at HealthCare Dimensions, PacifCare Health Systems, as well as Owner of the Pivot Management Group.

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BTU #363 - Drones & Data @ Skycatch (Christian Sanz )

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BTU #363 - Drones & Data @ Skycatch (Christian Sanz )

Why Listen
I'm so honored to have had time with Christian today. I realized a while back that we hadn't talked to anyone in the drone industry. I think it's an industry that has a lot of interest for veterans - it's growing rapidly, it's cool, it's high tech. I started looking for veterans in this industry and came across Christian. He agreed to be interviewed for Beyond the Uniform and I was so energized and inspired by our conversation.


About Christian:
Christian Sanz is the CEO and Founder of Skycatch, the leading industrial aerial data collection and analytics company, focused on indexing and extracting critical information from the physical world. He served in the Navy for 4 years, and his civilian career includes work as a software engineer for The Walt Disney Company, a Senior Software Engineer at LoopNet, the Senior Director of Engineering at Break Media, the CTO at Kin Community, the Founding CTO of Storify (acquired by Adobe), and the Founder of DroneGames. Over the last 7 years, Christian has grown Skycatch to have over 50 employees and $46M in funding.

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BTU #358 - Fit Ops with Matt Hesse

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BTU #358 - Fit Ops with Matt Hesse

Why Listen:
There is so much to love about today's interview. First of all on the professional side, Matt went from the Army National Guard and an unexpected departure into opening a series of nutrition supplement franchises that built up a skill set for him to then start his own performance supplement company. He currently works for a company called Fit Ops which is doing absolutely unbelievable things in the military community training people physically, mentally, and emotionally,.

I loved so much of what Matt had to share in this interview. In this interview, we talk about things like mentorship and finding clarity in your life. And we talk about letting your gut guide you in decisions. This is a very informative interview but it's also an inspirational conversation and I think you'll really enjoy this episode.

About Matt:

Matt Hesse is the Chairman & Founder of the FitOps, the CEO of Performix, and the Founder & CEO of COrr-Jensen. He also serves as an Advisory Council Member on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. He served in the Army and National Guard for nearly five years, and was a multi unit franchise store owner for GNC.